13 July 2015

Fusako Yusaki (湯崎夫沙子, b.
1937) is a Japanese clay animation pioneer.
Most of the early independent Japanese animators who came of age in the
1960s are men. Women animators in this
period were often behind the scenes working as inbetweeners and assistant
animators and rarely took a directorial credit.
Yusaki is the exception to this rule, but she made her name not in Japan
but in Italy. Her works range from the
abstract to narrative works – though many combine elements of both. Using a colourful palette of clay, her works
are defined by her use of metamorphosis.
Scenes flow seamlessly into one another in a very organic style.

Yusaki was born in the city of Moji-ku,
one of the five cities that merged to create the city of Kitakyūshū in Fukuoka
Prefecture in 1963. She graduated with a
degree in Fine Arts from Joshibi University of Art and Design in 1960. She then won a scholarship to study at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in
Milan in 1964 and has lived and worked in Milan ever since.

She established her own independent
studio – Studio Yusaki (スタジオ・ユサキ) –
and is famous for her commercials and for her children’s television programming
in collaboration with public broadcasters such as RAI (Italy’s public
broadcaster) and the NHK. Yusaki rose to
fame in Italy in the 1960s for her popular series of clay animation
advertisements for the liqueur Fernet-Branca (1968-1977), for which she won the
Bagatto d’oro (the top prize for Italian
commercials) in 1971.

In the 1990s and 2000s, she became
known for her sweet clay animation characters such as Peo (ペオ) the blue dog and the red and blue figures Naccio + Pomm (ナッチョとポム). Naccio + Pomm have
been released by the NHK in Japan as part of their Petit Petit Anime (プチプチ・アニメ) series for kids.

Among her many honours, Yusaki has
won a Bronze Lion from the Festival
international de la créativité - Lions Cannes (1972) and the award for lifetime
achievement from the Festival
Internazionale del Cinema d'Arte in Bergano (2004). She has been on the international juries at many
festivals including Annecy (1989), Hiroshima (1990), Zagreb (2000), Espinho
(2002), and Wissembourg (2003).

Yusaki continues to be very active on the animation scene, teaching workshops and participating in festivals as well as making films. She teaches three-dimensional
illustration at l’Istituto Europeo di
Design in Milan and her films are part of the collection of the Hara Museum of Contemporary
Art in Tokyo.

The works
were presented this year by Yūichi Itō,
who is one of Japan’s top stop motion animators (learn
more).The class of 2015 was also taught by the Oscar-nominated director Kōji Yamamura, the animation producer Mitsuko Okamoto, and Taruto Fuyama of the Koma Koma Lab.

Each Geidai
graduating class is given a pithy one-word theme. This year’s theme is “DAWN”, which is an
inspired idea in the way that it evokes the promise of a new generation of
animators. At the graduating class’s screening event in March,
talks were held with special guests including Tomoyasu Murata, Sumito Sakakibara, Masaki Fujihata and the Dutch-Canadian animator Co Hoedeman.

Of the 12
students graduating this year 2/3 of them are women, which is a trend at many
animation schools in Japan suggesting that the era of male dominance of the
animation industry in Japan may finally be coming to an end.

Some of the students that I have my eye on
for future greatness include Shishi
Yamazaki, whose sensual works featuring self portraits such as Yamasuke Yamazaki (2013) are a breath of
fresh air.

Yukie Nakauchi is also one to watch. I featured her adaptation of Niel De Ponte’s Celebration and Chorale (2013) at this year’s Nippon
Connection as an example of one of Tamabi’s top recent
graduates. With her abstract works she
demonstrates a great understanding of the relationship between music and animated
movement.

Satomi Maiya’s graduate film has a more
mainstream appeal. The soft watercolour
look and character design in A Place to Name
reminded me of the renowned children’s picture book author Chihiro.

There are two stop motion animators in this
graduating class who also attracted my interest: Kohei Takeda and Ataru
Sakagami. Sakagami’s stop motion of
the interior of his old family home, with its tatami floors shredding up and
filling the room is brilliant and he is definitely one to watch out for in the
near future.

I will
review some of my favourite films from this graduating class in the near
future. The consensus at the Nippon
Connection selected screening was that there were not as many exceptional
works as last
year, but the quality of animation is solid and they are certainly a very talented group of animators.

Note: The
film descriptions below are by the filmmakers themselves. I have made a couple of improvements to the spelling / wording but I have not corrected everything.

Graduate Films

収録作品第三期生修了作品

Scutes on my Mind

かたすみの鱗 / Katasumi no Uroko /
8’58”

“The scutes
glisten in the corner of her mind and she starts to dig her memories up. What was like the museum director she
encountered when she was lost?”

Note: "Scutes" is the zoological term for bony external plates or scales overlaid with horn, as found on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodilians, and the feet of birds.

Megumi Ishitani (石谷恵, b.
1991) was born in Hyogo. She also has a
degree in Intermedia Art from Geidai (2013).
Check out her website, or
follow her on tumblr, twitter, and vimeo.

Wild Boys Advance

超ラジオ体操 / Chō Rajio Taisō / 5’12”

“An ensemble
play with men full of distorted energy.”

koya (b. 1990) was born in Aichi and is
a graduated of Musashino Art University (2013).
He leads the video production group KENJA. Follow him on twitter, instagram, and vimeo, or check out his profile here.

A Place to Name

その家の名前 / Sono ie no namae / 4’31”

“This place
is where my grandparents, my parents, and I once lived. Even though I lose my memories and feelings
of it, it does exist there and keeps to be in existence.”

Ataru Sakagami (坂上直, b. 1986) is from Niigata. He graduated from the Kyoto University of Art
and Design with a degree in Video and Performing Arts in 2010. You can find him
on twitter.

Fox Fears

きつね憑き/ Kitsune Tsuki / 7’38”

“In the
evening of a village festival, a young boy named Bunroku goes to the festival
with his friends and visits a clog shop on the way. There he learns an old superstition about the
fox.”

Miyo Sato (佐藤美代, b.
1989) is from Nagoya in Aichi Prefecture.
She graduated from the School of Design at Nagoya University of the Art
(2011). Check her out on tumblr.

Moonlit Night and Opal

月夜＆オパール / Tsukiyo to Opāru
/ 3’21”

“Half asleep
with my eyes closed, my conscience flies beyond time and space and I transform
myself to all the life forms existing. I
become the universe and the universe becomes me, until I fall asleep. .
. It is a song to pray for the
existence of heart and soul at an awakening.”

Shishi Yamazaki (シシヤマザキ,
b.1989) is from Kanagawa. She has a
degree in Design from Tokyo University of the Arts (2013). Follow her on twitter, check out her website, or buy products that feature her
art from Kotobukisun Shop.

Holy Shit!

6’03”

“One
elephant lives in a mountain. He spends
his life drawing pictures and fishing.
Pigs with swollen crotches live in the city. The city is full of towers. One day a tower is built near the elephant’s
cabin, the elephant starts to climb it.

Takashi Shibuya (澁谷岳志,
b.1988) is from Fukushima. He has a
degree in Geology from Shinshu University (2012). Follow him on twitter and vimeo, or check out his website.

Helleborus Niger

7’57”

“A story of
a father and a daughter. The father
projects the images of [his] former [him]self on his daughter. Their feelings start to merge as his memories
get clearer.”

Kohei Takeda (武田浩平, b.
1990) is a stop motion animator form Ibaraki.
He graduated from the College of Education at Ibaraki University in
2013. Follow him on tumblr.

I’m Here

6’

“One doesn’t
know where to go but has to move forward.
He has to go to his goal. Always
transforming himself, his heat and mind drift and run towards the goal when he
finds it.”

Yukie Nakauchi (中内友紀恵, b.
1989) was born in Hokkaido. She
graduated from Tama Art University in 2013.
Follow her on twitter or check
out her website.

Tepid Bath

2’59”

“The
borderline of water, a body, or a bathtub gets more and more unclear. All are mixed together in the lukewarm water.”

Tsumugi Harunari (春成つむぎ, b.
1983) is from Ishikawa. She graduated
from the International Academy of Media Arts and Sciences (IAMAS) in 2008. Follow her on twitter or check out her website.

Missing You

白いうなばら / Shiroi Unabara / 6’25”

Satomi Maiya (米谷聡美, b.
1990) was born in Miyagi. She studied
animation at Tokyo Polytechnic University (2013). Follow her on tumblr, vimeo, or twitter.

Hollow Mind

粃 / Shina / 5’29”

“The mind
grows hollow leaving the body behind.
Soon she is almost swallowed by the swelled one. The fruit that failed to fruit.”

yagi (山羊, b. 1990)
is from Aichi. She graduated from the
School of Design at Nagoya University of the Arts (NUA, 2012). http://yagigoya.wix.com/228

Zdravstvuite!

ズドラーストヴィチェ！ / Zudorāsutovische / 5’36”

Yoko Yuki (幸洋子, b.
1987) was born in Aichi. She has a degree
in Visual Media from Nagoya University of the Arts and Sciences (NUAS, 2010). http://yokoyuki.com/

First Year Films (2014)

一年次作品 2014

Reinventing the Square Wheel

四角い車輪の再発明/ Shikakui Sharin no
Saihatsumei / 2’24”

“On various
forms expanded in all the direction[s] and a dance by a man in tights.”

Yasuaki Adachi (足立靖明, b.
1986) did both his undergraduate and graduate studies at Tokyo University of
the Arts. Follow him on twitter or tumblr.

Oh Dear

あらら / Arara

“Naoko had a
fight with her brother over a trivial thing and pushed him away. She knew she was childish but she ran away
from home.”

Megumi Ishitani (石谷恵) –
profile above

SPOON

“A boy’s
spoon falls on the floor when he is having a breakfast. The moment he is trying to pick it up, the
boy is thrown into the [a] different world. There he begins the adventure to take his
spoon back.”

Yikun Wang (王禕坤 / オウ・イコン, b. 1991) was born in Shanghai. He has a degree in Mechanical Engineering
from the University of Tokyo and a degree in Design from Tokyo University of
the Arts.

ImZoo

3’05”

“Signs such
as circles, points, and lines get together to make the shape of a ‘bear’. ‘The bear’ starts to walk to find the
concrete places and comes across animals in the forest. We tend to find a story in the relationship
between ‘The bear’ and other animals.”

koya – profile above

Return to Dust

1’50”

“A skeleton
is tied with red threads and stuck by clay.
How much control do we have in our own actions? And what does hinder these actions?”

Ataru Sakagami (坂上直) –
profile above

Through the Windows

3’24”

“The gaze of
a woman from a window to [at
other] windows leads to a recollection of the various scenes. The metamorphosed windows transfer, expand,
reflect, conserve, and sometimes shine like a lighthouse.”

Miyo Sato (佐藤美代) –
profile above

aaH / Hee

ああ／良い / aa / ii / 2’12”

“When the mind
says aah, the body says hee. I dance
around the confusion and the consensus, and my whole life is getting composed
of these dances.”

“[A depressed]
and isolated mind is similar to the sense of floating in the water. Underwater as a man’s mindscape and the real occurrences
at the beach are portrayed”

Kohei Takeda (武田浩平) –
profile above

tumbled cat

2’

“A record of
sensation and sign[s] of watching tumbl[ing], moving and then floating.”

Toshikazu Tamura (田村聡和) belongs
to the animation group Onion Skin
along with other Geidai students Ai
Sugaya, Onohana (Geidai
2014) and Yewon Kim (Geidai
2014).

Scape Escape

ぜんぶわかってる / Zembu wakatteru / 1’59”

“A man
wanted to escape. He wanted to stay
unaware but he found them all.”

Yukie Nakauchi (中内友紀恵) –
see profile above.

The Closet

4’29”

“A young
girl takes it into her head that her mother is taken by her newly born sister. Out of jealousy she hides her baby sister in
darkness.”

Satomi Maiya (米谷聡美) –
see profile above

GYRØ

6’32”

“The
everyday life of an elephant and a woman, his wife in a lakeside house. Their life together with a certain distance
repeats itself. The traces of the
passing time cover the familiar landscape.
One day an accident happens to the couple living together with contradictions
and secrets.”

Madoka (円香, b. 1990) is an animator, filmmaker and illustrator. Before coming to Geidai, she studied
animation at Tokyo Zokei University (2011).
Check out her website.

My Dear

6’33”

“At the
waterside surrounded by factories and the [waste] lives a white
frog. It loves a goldfish who also lives
in the neighbourhood. Recently the
goldfish appears to be in poor health, which worries the frog.”

Yagi (山羊) –
see profile above.

Mind Game

形而上の無限思考 / Keijijyō no Mugenshikō / 4’50”

“The devices
not used for a story are fed and then destroyed. This is a reproduction of reminiscence when a
heroine runs about a neuron in a moment of waiting for the world that didn’t happen.”

Risa Yamashita (山下理紗) is
in her early 20s. She only lists rather
vague information about herself in her profile on her website.

See ya, Mr. Banno!

黄色い気球とばんの先生/ Kiroi Kikyū to Banno
Sensei / 4’23”

“One day out
of [the] blue Prof. Banno of next class came to school with his hair
shaven. Students made fun of his bald
head. Prof. Banno flew in a hot air
balloon the other next day.
Nobody knows anythingabout what happened to him afterwards
after that.”

I saw Tochka’s latest PiKA
PiKA animationTrack (2015) at Oberhausen 2015 as part of the MuVi
Award international competition which celebrates music videos that are “trend-setting
and visually exceptional.” This year’s
selection featured an eclectic mix of styles including the music videos for
prominent artists such as Pussy Riot
(I Can’t Breathe), Arcade Fire (We Exist) and Sia (Chandelier) and more off beat works such
as Xiu Xiu’s Cinthya’s Unisex, Wang Rong’s
Chick Chick, and a YouTube SmashUp of
Wrecking Ball by Parag K. Mital. Fellow
Japanese animator Yoriko Mizushiri
was also on the programme with her latest work Maku which features the music of Shuta Hasunuma.

Track made it into the MuVi selection because
it features the music of Atsushi Yamaji
(山路敦司), but I wouldn’t really call it a music video per
se. It is a collaborative stop motion
animation made as a part of Smart Illumination
Yokohama 2013 and was later reedited into a short film format for
distribution.At the core of Tochka are
the co-directors Takeshi Nagata (ナガタタケシ) and Kazue
Monno (モンノカヅエ) from Kyoto (Read
about my visit to their new studio last summer).They were assisted by a team of 28 animators
(credited below) who draw in the air using penlights and are filmed at a slow
framerate in order to pixilate
the animators and their movements with light.The animators in a nighttime PiKA PiKA animation film are visible
onscreen usually as black shadows and remind me of the kuroko (黒子) stagehands in kabuki
or bunraku.

The film was
shot under the promenade connecting Zō-no-hana Park (象の鼻パーク,literally: “Elephant Trunk Park”) to the YokohamaRed Brick Warehouse. The park gets its
name from the Zō-no-hana
breakwater which people say is shaped like the trunk of an elephant. Renovated into a public space for cultural activity
in recent years, Zō-no-hana is celebrated as the birthplace of the port of
Yokohama. Commodore Matthew Perry’s
Black Ships (Kurofune) landed here on their second visit in 1859. Yokohama quickly became the gateway of
foreign goods into Japan, with freight trains departing from the port for
Tokyo.

This is an
inspired location for a nighttime shoot because the illuminated row of plinths
running parallel to the promenade and the iconic Yokohama skyline with the
illuminated giant Ferris wheel Cosmo Clock 21 make a perfect backdrop to the
film. In a nod to the history of trains
departing the port of Yokohama, the animation takes place on a track built
under the promenade.

With every
film that they make, Tochka seem to be widening the possibilities of animating with
light. This is one of their most complex
uses of light with scenes depicting fish in the ocean, dinosaurs next to an
erupting volcano, circus performances and a mural like those drawn by
prehistoric man on the walls of caves.

The synopsis
of the film in the Oberhausen catalogue reads: “Humans invented tools,
discovered fire, and drew pictures in dark caves. Then murals were born with a mission to hand
down everything to posterity. In these
murals, you can find dreams and the joy connected with the discovery of
fire. When I trace the history of the
ancient peoples and imagine their lifestyle, I always feel grateful for modern civilization.”

Indeed, as
with all of Tochka’s PiKA PiKA collaborative works, Track is an uplifting film that celebrates life and the human
imagination.